In his maiden speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, freshman Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) urged passage of his amendment that would force the government to prioritize interest payments on foreign-held debt.

The legislation, offered as an amendment to the patent reform bill, was introduced after Obama administration officials warned that a failure to raise the nation's debt limit would lead to a default on Treasury securities and precipitate a financial crisis.

"The Full Faith and Credit Act makes sure that debt is a top priority," said Toomey on the amendment he introduced with Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) on Monday. "I want to remove the specter of default on our debt."

The House on Tuesday afternoon approved a rule for considering H.J. Res. 44, the two-week spending measure that is expected to pass later in the day.

The rule allows one hour of debate on the resolution and was approved in a largely party-line vote of 251-170, with only 15 Democrats supporting it. Democrats generally opposed the rule because it does not allow any Democratic amendments to be considered.

But the vote on the actual resolution is expected to have more Democratic support, as Democrats are acknowledging that passing it is the only way to keep the federal government funded after March 4. During the debate, Democrats largely skirted the specifics of the two-week spending bill, and instead trained their fire on H.R. 1, a full FY 2011 spending bill that would cut $61 billion from current spending levels.

House Republicans on Tuesday framed the two-week spending extension it will vote on today as a way of giving the Senate more time to consider the full FY 2011 spending bill, which nearly all Democrats oppose.

"Most importantly, this measure averts a government shutdown, and allows the Senate time to continue to consider H.R. 1, the bill that we successfully passed in this chamber just one week ago," Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) said in debate that started at 12:30 p.m. Woodall also said that after more than 50 hours of debate in the House last month, H.R. 1 "now sits idly in the Senate."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) insisted Tuesday that Democrats are taking action to avoid a government shutdown.

“We are working to see if we can find a way to fund the government for the foreseeable future,” said Reid, making his first address to the Senate since a 10-day recess.

Reid noted that work on the spending bill must be completed this week, before the current stopgap measure expires on Friday.

Freshman Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday rejected predictions that GOP spending cut plans would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, and said these  estimates are coming from economists who sympathize with Democrats.

Quayle's comments on the floor came just one day after Moody's Economy.com analyst Mark Zandi said the FY 2011 spending bill supported by Republicans would cost 700,000 jobs. But Quayle said Zandi routinely supports Democratic spending plans.

"I'm sure Mr. Zandi is a nice enough person, but in recent years, he hasn't seen a spending increase he didn't like," Quayle said. "He was the Democrats' go-to guy when they were looking for an economist to endorse the stimulus, and he even endorsed a second stimulus package after the initial $1 trillion package was signed into law."

Sen. Barbara Boxer said the cost of four hours of the Iraq war would be enough to keep PBS funded.

The House gaveled in at 10 a.m. Tuesday, but will not take up the business of the day -- passing a two-week spending bill -- until noon.

The House is expected to approve the spending bill in two votes: one on the rule, H.Res. 115, and another on the spending resolution itself, H.J.Res. 44. Final votes are expected by 4 p.m., as Republicans want to get the bill to the Senate today so it can approve the measure this week, before the current spending resolution expires on Friday.

Passage seems increasing assured in the House, as Democrats are largely standing down in their opposition to the bill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has registered some opposition to the bill, but did not put forward a Democratic substitute amendment that would have been voted on today. Senate Democrats also appear ready to pass the bill in order to ensure funding for the government after this week.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Monday night said they oppose a longer-term spending bill for the rest of FY 2011, but the extent to which these members might oppose the bill today is unclear.

And in a Whip Notice this morning, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) urged a "no" vote on the rule, but importantly did not make a recommendation to vote against the spending resolution itself. Instead, the notice seemed to take a middle ground position, by noting that the GOP bill includes some cuts that President Obama supports, but does not include "any kind of plan to create certainty or jobs in the economy."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) moved Monday to set up legislative alternatives to fund the government, in case they are needed to avert a shutdown.

Reid filed cloture on a bill that already passed the House to use it as a possible vehicle to fund the government.

The bill cancels a program allowing taxpayers to voluntarily fund presidential campaigns but Reid could attach, as an amendment, a continuing resolution to fund the government.

The Senate process requires that after cloture is filed, the bill must ripen for one day and one hour before the entire body can vote on whether to bring it to the floor for debate, which requires a 60 vote threshold. Then, the legislation is up for debate for 30 hours. Lawmakers can choose to pass a bill without debate, but controversial bills usually take up the entire debate time.

The government will shut down on March 4th if Congress does not pass a funding measure. By filling cloture on the campaign finance bill, it can be used as a vehicle for moving a continuing resolution if necessary, according to a Senate aide.

In other actions on Monday, the Senate unanimously confirmed two judicial nominees, Amy Totenberg and Steve Jones, and heard the introduction of several amendments to the Patent Reform Act.

The Senate adjourned for the evening at 7.02 p.m and is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday at 10 a.m. for further debate on the Patent Reform Act.

-- Erik Wasson contributed.

Black lawmakers said GOP-proposed budget cuts would move the country in the opposite direction of the civil rights movement.